A couple of hundreds of some of the most prominent Christian leaders in the United States who came from across all denominations came together in Nashville, Tennessee where they signed a missive called the “Nashville Statement.” They conveyed their total support for the New Testament reaffirming over two millennia of Biblical injunctions and directives declaring the reaffirmation that marriage is between one man and one woman, G0d made us male and female and therefore transgenderism is incompatible with the Christian faith, and that the Bible lists homosexuality as a sin thereby rendering its acceptance as incompatible with the Christian faith. This drew many denunciations from among which the condemnation by the Mayor of Nashville, Megan Barry, seemed unexpected. The most preposterous condemnation came from those who objected to the timing coming as the people of Houston and surrounding areas of Texas are suffering from Hurricane Harvey. I’m sure when these leaders of faith planned their assembling months ago they did it with the divine providing them with information that a hurricane would have devastated a large area of the southern United States and this was included in their plans. Please, give the world a break and please, if you are going to object, please find something more believable and applicable, something more real than attempting to shame them for a natural disaster coinciding as if such could be planned. But these were the least of the objections and the least damning as well.
When the content of the “Nashville Statement” was officially released, there were numerous condemnations denouncing the signatories as hateful, homophobic, as well as deceitful and not speaking in the nature or with the passions of Jesus. The word “hate” appeared to be the favorite uncivil invective thrown with obvious intent to harm the signers. But not to worry, keepers of the faith in all ages share one remarkable quality, their ability to shrug off scorn over their treasured beliefs as they often have experienced far too much practice allowing such to pass without taking offense. Their skin has developed a tender strength allowing them to be sympathetic and to understand that the people are defending their pet political beliefs and, they hope, not their deep moral beliefs. Religious people have come under more and more rejection for their beliefs which is regrettable as they mostly are the ones least likely to reject those who show them disregard. Religious faith is supposed to allow for people to come together but in this instance, it appears to have had the opposite effect. For that reason, despite my not being anywhere near an expert on the New Testament or, unfortunately, the Torah and remainder of what is referred to as the Old Testament, I wish to contest one of the reported points and make a distinction as a matter of mending fences.
Hebrew Bible and Christian Bible
The accusation made that they stated that the Bible lists homosexuality as a sin has to be inaccurate. If my knowledge is near accurate, the Bible states that sodomy is a sin, not homosexuality. One may love whomever they choose but the act of sodomy, whether performed between two men and by a man with a woman are equally a sin as both are sodomy. The Bible teaches us not to hate anyone else but to love everybody. We are to love the person and hate the sin, and that makes a huge difference as we are instructed to love the person including homosexuals and to hate the sin of sodomy no matter whether it is homosexual or heterosexual in nature. Unfortunately, the fact is that the act is the sin, not the emotions between people, which are to be judged. But this is lost in the arguments because if an act which can be either heterosexual or homosexual in nature, thus applicable to all men and not just those attracted to other men, then the argument loses all its political clout. What good is the naming of an act as a sin which has no political application when one can make a political stand claiming that religious people hate a certain group of people. One of the major problems with society today is that a certain group of political positions have decided that religion is their enemy and that if their visions of the world are to come true, then the first step is to rid the world of religious beliefs.
The absolute worst result from the “Nashville Statement” would be its use in the political war against religion and to attack and besmirch people of religious faith. The war against religion is simply a manufactured war being used as a ploy to attract disaffected people to a certain political viewpoint. Those of the viewpoint that the state must replace religion because religion ties people to a false premise and the state can be and is better suited to caring for people, are ignoring the benefits which came from religion as the force responsible for caring for those in need and the government taking care of the structures such as roads and other inanimate objects. The war against religion desires to claim that man has no divine spark and is no different than an amoeba, just a few million years more evolved which permits eugenics and other forms of population control and the classification of people instead of treating all people with respect and love. The war against religion would reduce humanity to cold calculations and nothing more and that would be a sad world in which to live. But that is exactly how the cold of heart will interpret the “Nashville Statement” and make nothing more of it than claiming it comes from those who hate, but the real question one need answer is who are the real haters, the ones who wish to turn humanity into nothing more than statistics in a government ledger. When one has that answer, then they will understand which respects and treasures people more, the political or the religious. I know which group we would trust our future to between the two.
Beyond the Cusp
Beyond the Cusp 